Most seaworthy 30' boat?

I can only comment on the Ballad (mentioned above) and the Rustler 31 you mentioned in your opening post.

The Ballad I consider very seaworthy but probably a wetter boat then the Rustler (although not awful imo). Magical armchair was selling his very nice ballad (which he's got a double bunk conversion) on apollo duck with pics of the setup. They're a lot of boat for the money, possibly a bit more racer than cruiser but not a lightweight racer.

The Rustler I've sailed recently sold for very good money and it was worth every penny. It was a friends boat and it put my ballad to shame (but it also cost a lot more money). Sailed really well and wasn't a slouch, inside was nicely finished and felt like "home".

If you could afford a slightly older Rustler do it, if like me and you can't afford one the Ballad was my choice. If the long keel thing was a priority a Twister would be on my list
 
I have a Sadler 29. It hasn't sunk yet but I bet I could manage it. The double berth (not 'birth' incidently) is for two adults who are very narrow in the prone position. And it's not 29 ft long. Apart fron that it's great.
 
IanCC said:
I have the opportunity of a very reasonable birth. But the boat can't be longer than 30' 5".
I don't have time for two boats in my life so want to get the decision right. Or try my best. Don't want my dreams of voyages to be restricted.
Nich 31 looks good but may be a slug. I want a boat that is nice to sail.
Not a twister or a vancouver 27/274, did I say it must have a double berth?
Rustler 31 out of my price band for a good one. Up to 25k ish.
Halmatic/Barbican maybe.


Looks like I am fixated on long keel but I am not and nor by skegs.

All input apprectiated.
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Of all the boats I have ever had (9) I still remember the Moody 30 I bought when they were just introduced.
I wish I had it now. Try one you won't regret it.
 
IanCC said:
I don't get the Barbican. Nicer in some ways but with an extra half tonne of ballast. Means you can carry half a tonne less stuff or is the halmatic super tender?
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Not ‘super tender’ but you needed to reduce sail earlier on the Mk 1 than the Mk 2 to avoid the helm becoming heavy (the Mk2 has about 30sq ft less sail on a shorter boom). This wasn’t weather helm as such - the tiller would only be a few degrees up from the centreline - but it was noticeably heavy. Get the sail plan right and the Halmatic is nicely balanced. Upwind in a F6/7 from Alboran to rather Spanish mainland, one of the steering lines chafed through. Nobody noticed for ages!

These boats will sail at a greater angle of heel than modern designs due to the hull shape.

I think the Barbican boats probably had a slightly better finish and iirc, possibly encapsulated ballast but you may want to check that.

Carrying capacity? I see your logic but have no experience of the Barbican.

To be honest, if you decide that these two are on your short list I’d go for maintenance and condition over anything else.
 
Why a rustler when you can get a nic 31 for less apparently? Haven't studied that in minute detail to be fair. Always understood the rustler didn't have proper standing headroom.
 
Goldie said:
Not ‘super tender’ but you needed to reduce sail earlier on the Mk 1 than the Mk 2 to avoid the helm becoming heavy (the Mk2 has about 30sq ft less sail on a shorter boom). This wasn’t weather helm as such - the tiller would only be a few degrees up from the centreline - but it was noticeably heavy. Get the sail plan right and the Halmatic is nicely balanced. Upwind in a F6/7 from Alboran to rather Spanish mainland, one of the steering lines chafed through. Nobody noticed for ages!

These boats will sail at a greater angle of heel than modern designs due to the hull shape.

I think the Barbican boats probably had a slightly better finish and iirc, possibly encapsulated ballast but you may want to check that.

Carrying capacity? I see your logic but have no experience of the Barbican.

To be honest, if you decide that these two are on your short list I’d go for maintenance and condition over anything else.
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Off to have a look at a halmatic this weekend.
 
Yellow Ballad said:
I can only comment on the Ballad (mentioned above) and the Rustler 31 you mentioned in your opening post.

The Ballad I consider very seaworthy but probably a wetter boat then the Rustler (although not awful imo). Magical armchair was selling his very nice ballad (which he's got a double bunk conversion) on apollo duck with pics of the setup. They're a lot of boat for the money, possibly a bit more racer than cruiser but not a lightweight racer.

The Rustler I've sailed recently sold for very good money and it was worth every penny. It was a friends boat and it put my ballad to shame (but it also cost a lot more money). Sailed really well and wasn't a slouch, inside was nicely finished and felt like "home".

If you could afford a slightly older Rustler do it, if like me and you can't afford one the Ballad was my choice. If the long keel thing was a priority a Twister would be on my list
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I don't understand the rustler thing. When I look at the stats, in comparison to the N31 they are basically the same Displacement, Lwl and LOA, but have more ballast so presumably less plastic, less beam so presumably less room, and less sail so presumably slower. What am I missing?
 
IanCC said:
Some say the sadler 32 and 29 have the same volume inside. Hard to believe.
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Not the same, but more similar than the sizes would suggest. The 32's galley is far bigger and more practical but we lived with the 29. There is more headroom in the fo'c'stle of the 29 though. the 32 has about a foot more beam than the 29 and this is evident in the saloon. Some of the 32's length is 'wasted' with the longer stern. The 29 actually has more freeboard than the 32, and the prow is quite high.

The prototype 29, which I have seen, had a vertical bulkhead at the front of the cockpit. This meant that the galley sink was partly covered by it. They angled the bulkhead for the production boats, giving a very useful nine inches or so to the galley and chart table seat but making little practical difference to the cockpit.
 
Dunno what they are priced at, but a Jeaneau 29.2 has quite a lot of things going for it. Stern double cabin, along with another in the forepeak, seperate heads aft. Chart/nav space and galley with enough to room to cook . Bit more sporty than many mentioned.
 
What you're planning requires a proper yacht and length doesn't mean safer.

A Victoria Frances 26 is neat, seaworthy, good head room & a double berth

One last point, the heads has a proper solid door ( often appreciated by a guest crew) and its near the cockpit, handy for singlehanded trips.

Good luck

IanCC said:
I have the opportunity of a very reasonable birth. But the boat can't be longer than 30' 5".
I don't have time for two boats in my life so want to get the decision right. Or try my best. Don't want my dreams of voyages to be restricted.
Nich 31 looks good but may be a slug. I want a boat that is nice to sail.
Not a twister or a vancouver 27/274, did I say it must have a double berth?
Rustler 31 out of my price band for a good one. Up to 25k ish.
Halmatic/Barbican maybe.


Looks like I am fixated on long keel but I am not and nor by skegs.

All input apprectiated.
Click to expand...
 
STATUE said:
What you're planning requires a proper yacht and length doesn't mean safer.

A Victoria Frances 26 is neat, seaworthy, good head room & a double berth

One last point, the heads has a proper solid door ( often appreciated by a guest crew) and its near the cockpit, handy for singlehanded trips.

Good luck
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Frances 26, full headroom under coachroof? I always thought not. Surprised. Hmmm.
 
IanCC said:
I don't understand the rustler thing. When I look at the stats, in comparison to the N31 they are basically the same Displacement, Lwl and LOA, but have more ballast so presumably less plastic, less beam so presumably less room, and less sail so presumably slower. What am I missing?
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Like I say I can only comment on what I know, I've never been on an N31 but I was very spoilt on sailing on probably one of the best R31s about. More ballast, less heel? Less beam, more speed? Less sail, more manageable? I'm not a designer I'm afraid.

All I can say is go visit a load of different boats you fancy, you'll know which one is the right one, there's more to a boat than stats.
 
IanCC said:
I don't understand the rustler thing. When I look at the stats, in comparison to the N31 they are basically the same Displacement, Lwl and LOA, but have more ballast so presumably less plastic, less beam so presumably less room, and less sail so presumably slower. What am I missing?
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Kim Holman. Had a magic formula for drawing fast boats.
 
A Rustler 31 (when I were a lad, that were the only size) is the GRP version of the North Sea 24, which was designed in the 1950s as an offshore racer of the minimum size (24ft lwl) for RORC events, and goes to windward in a fresh breeze like a knife through butter. She will still go to windward in F8, which not a lot of boats will do, but it’s not comfortable, although my sister, who has an Iron Constitution, managed to sleep in the forecabin with a couple of sailbags wedged above her sleeping bag between her and the deckhead to deal with the -1g moments.

If this is important, buy the Rustler.

In every other respect except appearance, the Nic 31 is the better boat.
 
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